First-year FIU coach Simmons continues to add players before camp begins

The first FIU fall camp under coach Willie Simmons is almost here.

Players are set to report on July 28, and Simmons — who had a 1-on-1 chat with the Herald on Tuesday — said he has 105 players on his roster. Of the scholarship players, 24 are transfers and 23 are true freshmen.

In addition, Simmons already has oral commitments from 18 recruits for the Class of 2026.

Clearly, Simmons and the rest of his coaching staff have been busy. In fact, during the past two months, the Panthers have added 10 transfers.

Of those 10 players, seven play offense: quarterback Joe Pesansky; running back Anthony Carrie; wide receivers Tar’Varish Dawson and JoJo Stone; tight end Justin Cayenne; tackle Miguel Cedeno; and guard Zaire Flournoy.

FIU also signed L’Cier Luter, who. is a 335-pound defensive lineman from Ball State; Tyderick Brown, a cornerback from UAB; and Justin Wood, a long snapper from Miami Palmetto High and, most recently, the University of Houston.

Simmons noted that Brown is part of “a UAB pipeline” as he joins Flournoy, tight end Dallas Payne and kickoff specialist Noah Grant as players FIU signed from the Blazers football program during the past few months.

The reason for that, at least in part, is that Simmons hired two coaches whose most recent stop was UAB — offensive coordinator Nick Coleman and special teams coordinator Kenneth Gilstrap — and they have familiarity with Blazers players.

Simmons said Brown, a 6-0 and 170-pound redshirt freshman, will push Brian Blades, Victor Evans III and Ashton Levells for playing time.

Here are Simmons’ comments on some of the other transfer additions FIU has made the past two months:

▪ Pesansky, a 6-4, 225-pounder from Tampa, was Holy Cross’ starting quarterback last season, completing 60.3% of his passes for 2,399 yards, 19 TDs and six interceptions.

He was a team captain at Holy Cross, and he made second-team All-Patriot League as a senior.

At FIU, he will likely battle for a backup job behind Keyone “Lights Out” Jenkins. Clayton Dees ended the spring as FIU’s second-team quarterback.

“Even though ‘Lights’ is the incumbent [QB], we are building a program based on competition,” Simmons said. “We don’t want ‘Lights’ to get too comfortable.

“Joe is a cerebral fifth-year senior and a coach on the field type. He will push Lights to be the best he can be. And if there’s an injury, we have a guy in Joe who gives us a lot of security because he has had a lot of college snaps.”

▪ Carrie, a 6-0, 195-pounder, is a Tampa native who transferred in from Georgia Tech. After veteran running back Ajay Allen transferred to Tulsa in April, Simmons said he wanted to add another veteran at the position.

Out of high school, Carrie was ranked the nation’s No. 9 running back by Rivals.com. As a freshman with Georgia Tech last season, he ran for 120 yards, a 4.8 average and one TD. His longest carry was for 30 yards.

“Redshirt freshman — lot of time remaining [in his college career], which was important to us,” Simmons said. “He showed flashes last year and had some production in the ACC.”

Carrie will compete with Kejon Owens, Devonte Lyons and Sterling Joseph.

▪ Dawson, a 5-10 and 155-pounder from Fort Myers, has played four college seasons — two at Auburn and one each at Colorado and Jacksonville State. In 16 career games, he has made 17 catches for 170 yards, a 10.0 average and one TD.

Simmons believes Dawson can replace the big-play ability of Eric Rivers, who transferred from FIU to Georgia Tech following last season.

“[Dawson] is a true speed guy, running 10.6 in the 100 meters,” Simmons said. “He is looking for his opportunity. But, arguably, he is the fastest guy on our football team. He can stretch the field and be a kick returner, too.”

▪ Stone, who will be a redshirt freshman this fall, is a 5-11, 190-pound transfer from Louisville. Prior to that, he was four-star recruit out of Langston Hughes High in Georgia.

Interestingly, he will reunite with his prep quarterback, Christian Langford, who will be an FIU freshman this fall.

“JoJo is a dynamic slot receiver,” Simmons said. “He was highly recruited [ranked No. 45 among the nation’s wide receivers]. JoJo is probably the most dynamic route runner we have.

“He can give us some wiggle in the slot, winning 1-on-1 matchups against safeties and linebackers, and he can also help us in the return game.”

▪ Cayenne, a 6-4 and 245-pounder, is an ex-Ivy Leaguer who played four seasons at Penn.

Cayenne, who is originally from Jacksonville, had nine catches for 57 yards and one touchdown last year.

“We wanted to increase our depth in the tight end room,” Simmons said. “Bringing in a fifth-year senior like Justin with great size, athleticism and ball skills will continue to make our offense more dynamic. He has the ability to play in multiple personnel groupings.”

▪ Cedeno is a 6-7, 315-pounder from Plantation American Heritage who spent the past three years playing for Rice.

“He’s a huge get — literally as well as figuratively,” Simmons said. “His parents are from the Caribbean. Massive human being with good upside. We think he has a chance to be special.”

▪ Flournoy, listed at 6-4 and 320 pounds, “is a burly-chested and athletic offensive guard,” Simmons said.

Added Simmons: “He played a lot for UAB the past couple of years. We lost some bodies [on the offensive line] after spring. We are excited about Zaire. He has multiple years left to play. I think he will compete for a starting spot.”